Computers Containing Participant Info Stolen

January 30, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Two computers containing the sensitive information of thousands of 401(k) participants in plans whose sponsors were clients of T. Rowe Price have been stolen from the St. Louis office of a third-party contractor.

T. Rowe Price spokesman Brian Lewbart told SCMagazineUS.com the hard drives contained the names and Social Security numbers of 35,000 people who are no longer employed by companies, but still enrolled in their retirement plans. The third-party provider, CBIZ Benefits and Insurance, was contracted by T. Rowe Price to prepare IRS forms 5500 for their clients.

Lewbart said there is no reason to believe the burglars, who took the computers in late December, were after the data on the machines, and no evidence exists that any of the information has been misused, according to the news report. He said the CBIZ Benefits was not violating any T. Rowe Price policies, and the two firms plan to remain partners.

“We do know that [CBIZ is] now in the process of installing encryption on the computers,” he said in the news report. “We certainly accept full responsibility.”

T. Rowe Price is offering victims one year of free credit monitoring, which includes $25,000 in identity theft insurance. The company is also advising affected parties of a number of identity-protection steps they can take, such as placing fraud alerts on their accounts.

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